


Outtakes

by Ceares



Category: Shelter (2007)
Genre: Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Yuletide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 15:01:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5460665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ceares/pseuds/Ceares
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zach wanted to stop them, tell him he was going to spoil Cody, tell Cody he was going to fall. But right then all he could do was be glad Shaun was with them, be glad Cody was giggling and wrestling with Shaun instead of crying.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Outtakes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gray Shadows (the_afterlight)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_afterlight/gifts).



> I really hope this is something like what you wanted. I love these guys and I'm glad I got to play with them again. Happy, happy yuletide. 
> 
> Warnings: drinking, drugs, adult language, the fluffiest fluff.  
> Place names do not in any way imply resemblance to the actual places themselves.
> 
> Thanks F for always being there to beta and as a shoulder to whine on.

**(day 1):**

Zach swallowed against the lump in his throat and leaned harder against Shaun as they watched the truck disappear around the corner. Shaun’s arm tightened and he pulled Zach and Cody in even closer. They headed into the house and Zach looked around. It looked even worse than it usually did, Jeanne’s missing things leaving forlorn holes in the sparse decor.

“You okay?”

He wasn’t, but he nodded anyway because he would be. He reached over and squeezed Cody’s shoulder. _They_ would be. “It’s gonna take a couple of days to get packed up.” Rent was paid up through the month and the lease was in Jeanne’s name. If she didn’t care about breaking it, Zach didn’t. He had to deal with the stuff she had left but most of it was going in the trash or back to the Goodwill anyway.

Shaun looked at him with soft eyes. “It’s fine. Take your time, and bring whatever you want. The apartment has storage units available to rent.” He leaned down and picked Cody up. Cody laid his head on Shaun’s shoulder, the edge of his sleeve trapped between his teeth. “Do you want to spend the night here?”

Zach shook his head. “No. It… that would be worse, knowing Jeanne was gone.” He grabbed a duffle bag and stuffed some of his and Cody’s things in there hurriedly. Shaun and Cody watched, Cody silent like he only was when he was upset. 

Shaun bounce him a little in his arms. “Hey, Codman, you up for a sleepover?”

Cody raised his head, tilting it to stare at Shaun. “A sleep over?”

“Yeah, we’re gonna fire up the grill and make hotdogs and S’mores and popcorn and watch movies all night.”

Cody frowned. “What’s S’mores?” 

“What’s S’mores?” Cody nodded and Shaun flipped his hand palm up. “You take graham crackers” he took Cody’s hand and laid it over his own. “Marshmallows,” Cody’s other hand now, “and chocolate.” He put his other hand on top. “And smoosh it all together with another graham cracker” he twisted his hands back and forth on Cody’s making him giggle. He giggled more, when Shaun started to playfully try and eat their combined hands. Cody wiggled, and laughed, trying to get away without actually getting out of Shaun’s arms.

Zach wanted to stop them, tell him he was going to spoil Cody, tell Cody he was going to fall. But right then all he could do was be glad Shaun was with them, be glad Cody was giggling and wrestling with Shaun instead of crying.

 

Shaun was as good as his word, stopping by the store on the way back to the beach house to pick up the ingredients, stuff for burgers and a few more things, including chocolate chip pancake mix. At the store, Cody and Shaun made a big production out of everything they put in the basket and even Zach was laughing at them by the time they were done. He could imagine what they looked like, and he stayed close to Shaun deliberately, even reaching out at one point to hold his hand again. He wasn’t lying to Tori. It wasn’t being gay that was the problem, it was everything else. What it would mean for them, dealing with Jeanne, and Gabe. All that was done now, and he didn’t give a flying fuck what anybody else thought.

 

Zach and Cody were settled on the sofa with a giant bowl of popcorn and a stack of kids movies and yeah, he and Shaun were going to have to have the ‘don’t spoil’ him talk again, but not just yet. Cody had waffled between watching Cars first and Benji. He’d settled on Cars and from the way he was yawning, Zach would be surprised if he ever got to Benji, which Shaun had found the in the bargain bin.

Shaun had shrugged defensively when Zach side-eyed it. “What? It was my favorite movie when I was a kid.”

“At least he doesn’t die at the end of it.” They’d already put back Finding Nemo and nixed any of Disney’s ‘dead mom’ movies.

Cody tilted his head back, eyes rolled up like he could see over the back of the sofa. “Come on Shaun! It’s starting!”

“Yeah, come on, Shaun!” There was a loud rumble then the sound of something falling with enough force to make the both jump. “Shaun!”

“I’m good!” His voice was muffled and when he stumbled into the room, Zach saw why. He was draped on both sides with the sleeping bags Larry had bought for a camping trip when he and Gabe were fifteen.

Cody watched wide eyed as he shoved the coffee table out of the way and laid the bags on the floor. “What’s that?”

Shaun was breathless when he sat back on his heels after making a pallet in front of the sofa. “For the perfect sleepover, you definitely need sleeping bags.”

“Okay.” Cody nodded like Shaun was telling him the secrets of the universe and slid off the sofa onto the floor, fluffing the material the way Shaun just had.

Shaun reached up, snatching the sofa cushions and tossing them on the floor.

“What’s up?” Zach nodded at the floor. “I was gonna make up Gabe’s room for him.”

Shaun shrugged. “You said he hates waking up in a strange place. This way he won’t be alone.”

Zach swallowed hard as he slid down onto the floor next to them, leaning over to give Shaun a kiss for the first time in front of Cody.

He was watching them, wide-eyed when Zach sat back. “Is Shaun your boyfriend, Zach?”

Shaun was watching both of them, eyes soft. “Yeah.”

Cody grinned. “Cool!” 

 

Zach opened his eyes slowly. Shaun’s arm was across his waist and the space between them was empty. He had a moment of panic before he realized the TV was on. He looked behind him to find Cody awake, leaning against the sofa and watching cartoons with the volume down low. He reached out, squeezing Cody’s leg and got a wide grin in return.

“Hey Bud, you want me to make you some pancakes?”

Cody shook his head, eyes still trained on the television, where Spongebob and Patrick were taking Gary for a walk. “No. Shaun.”

Zach kept his voice low. “Shaun’s still sleeping.”

“His taste better.”

There was a muffled laugh from under the pillow.

Zach frowned and crossed his arms. “Hey! Who’s the cook here?”

Cody giggled as Shaun sat up, grinning. “Looks like Master still has something to teach Student.”

 

**(week 2):**

They weren’t thinking. Yelling, yes, but thinking, no. And it wasn’t like the last, first argument they’d had. It didn’t feel like the end of anything, just a disagreement. Zach had picked up weekend hours at Joe’s diner. He thought he could handle that and school and Shaun didn’t want him to have to.

The back and forth was repetitive and stupid. They never even stopped doing the dishes together while they argued. It would have blown over and been forgotten if Cody hadn’t overheard it. They both heard the muffled sob at the same time. Cody was huddled in the corner, tears streaming down his face.

“Shit.” Shaun wiped a hand over his face. “Cody, bud, it’s okay.”

Zach picked him up and Cody grabbed him in a strangle hold. “I don’t wanna leave Shaun.”

“Hey, hey, you’re not.” Shaun rubbed up and down his back.

“You’re mad.”

“I’m not. Your uncle Zach and I just didn’t agree about something, that’s all.”

“It’s true. We’re not going anywhere.”

“You said people leave sometime.” He sniffled, hands tightening in Zach’s shirt.

“I know.” And he didn’t know what to say. Was tired of having to break Cody’s heart again and again. “But not this time, okay?”

Cody turned his head toward Shaun. “Promise?”

Shaun leaned over the counter, till he was nose to nose to Cody. “I promise, even if we do get mad sometimes, you never have to leave me if you don’t want to.”

“Shaun.” Zach didn’t want Shaun to commit to something he might regret. Didn’t want him to feel obligated to Cody when ultimately he was Zach’s responsibility.

Shaun shrugged. “We’ve been family since you were eight years old and Gabe brought you home. No matter what else happens, that’s not gonna change.” He grinned. “Mom and Larry practically adopted you and Gabe would disown me for you in a heartbeat. So, I’m keeping you.” He reached over and ran a hand over Cody’s hair. “Both of you.”

“Don’t fight anymore.”

Shaun looked around for a second, then grabbed a Kings cap that was laying on a bookshelf. He flipped in up and laid it on the counter. “I tell you what. When I was kid, my dad used to say it’s okay to be mad or sad or scared as long as we fix it.” He waved his hands over the hat. “This is now the magic hat of truuuuth!”

Cody peered at the hat. “The hat of truth? What does it do?”

“Whenever we have a big problem, we write it down and put it in here and then we can fix it.”

“Where’s _your_ daddy at?”

“My daddy died when Gabe was your age.”

Cody nodded, staring at the hat. “I can write yet though.”

“That’s okay. Uncle Zach or I can do it for you for now.”

“Okay. You and Uncle Zach do it now.”

Shaun grabbed two slips of paper and handed one to Zach who took it with a cocked brow..

“Really?”

Shaun poked out his tongue. “Don’t question the magic hat.”

“So, what fix it are we putting in the hat for this? I’m not quitting. I’ve had a job since I was twelve, and I kept my scholarship, even when mom was sick.”

“You didn’t have Cody.”

“I didn’t have you either.” That earned him a look that made him wish they were alone. “I swear I’ll quit if it gets too hard.” He wrote that down and tossed it into the hat.

“And I won’t say I told you so. “

“Yeah, I’m definitely gonna need that one in the hat of truth.” Shaun grinned, scrawling on his own paper and tossing it in.

“Okay, say the magic words. Alakazam!”

Cody leaned in, gaze fixed on the hat. “Aliky Sam!”

Shaun carefully put the hat back on the shelf, and then rubbed his hands together. “Okay, we need just one more thing to make the magic complete. Chocolate chip pancakes.”

Cody raised fisted hands in the air. “Yay!”

Zach was really starting to think Shaun loved those things as much as Cody. “For dinner?”

Shaun shrugged, eyes wide and faux innocent as he pulled the skillet out of the cabinet. “We have to feed the _magic_ , Zach.”

 

**(month 3):**

Zach sat up when his alarm went off, yawning. Shaun mumbled into his pillow, then settled back into sleep, while Zach got dressed for work. He leaned down and kissed Shaun, who slowly opened his eyes, frowning against the light. “You heading out?”

“Yeah. I’ll be back early though. I still have to take Cody to finish up his school shopping.” School started Monday and while a part of him was glad, if for no other reason than that they’d both be out of Shaun’s hair for part of the day. No matter how much he protested that there was no problem, Zach knew they were slowing down his writing. Most of him though, was freaking the fuck out. He was so nervous about Cody’s first day he barely had time to be terrified about his own first day.

Work was usually slow until about nine, but this morning they got a crowd in early. Zach figured he wasn’t the only one who needed to get last minute shopping done. He was done by noon and had barely gotten his key in the door when it was yanked open and he was grabbed and lifted up off his feet.

“Bro!”

Zach returned the hug, confused. “Gabe? What are you doing here?” They hadn’t seen each other since the last time Gabe had come back to San P, but they’d made up over the phone soon after Zach and Cody got to LA. Or rather Zach had called to apologize and Gabe had blown it off, like he always did. Zach brooded over stuff and held a grudge forever but it was hard to even upset Gabe and he was over it before you could blink. They hadn’t had many fights over the years, but they’d all pretty much gone the same way as this one.

Gabe stepped back and reached in his pocket, pulling out a couple of joints. He waggled his brows. “Last minute blow out before school starts, dude.”

Zach yanked his hand down, looking around and frowning when he realized the apartment was empty.

Gabe laughed, fishing in his pocket for a lighter. “Chill, Shaun took the munchkin out school shopping. Plus, he’s the one that called me in the first place. Said you were losing it about Monday and needed to relax.”

Gabe put a hand in his back pushing him toward the bedroom. “Come on, go take a shower, we’ll light up and then we can go get some burgers or something. I’d ask you where all the prime spots to catch are but since you switched teams you’re useless.” He paused. “Unless you still look. Do you? Cause I’m not judging.”

Zach rolled his eyes and shoved at Gabe before going to take a shower. He wanted to call Shaun and tell him not to spend too much but he’d be wasting his time. Not only was Shaun still firmly in the ‘little kids should be spoiled’ camp despite anything Zach said, but they’d had to get Jeanne to fill out guardianship papers so they could get Cody registered for school and she hadn’t even asked to talk Cody. She’d said it was too soon. Shaun had said it was bullshit. Right now, he would buy Cody anything he wanted.

 

They sat at the bar and ordered a huge basket of fries to split between them. “You get Shaun in the water out here yet?”

“Yeah, we’ve hit Sunset and Huntington Beach. Shaun is teaching Cody.”

Gabe grinned. “Brings back memories, huh?”

Zach smiled, shaking his head. “Man I was the worst. I thought I’d drown before I ever got upright on a board. Shaun was so patient. Just like he is with Cody.”

“Oh, your face!” Gabe made a gagging noise. “I may just throw up from all the sap you just oozed there, Bro.”

Zach responded by throwing a fry at his head. Only one though, because they were pretty fucking good.

 

Shaun and Cody came back around four with a bunch of bags that Zach wasn’t allowed to look in and a couple of pizzas. Dinner was loud and full of ‘remember whens’ that kept them all laughing, Cody giggling even when he didn’t get the joke.

He had reluctantly gone to bed at seven. Zach remember when his parents would have friends over and he’d hang around as long as he could, the attention making him feel grown up. Cody’s new thing was knock-knock jokes and hideously bad riddles and Gabe was an unspoiled audience. Also an enabling one.

“Pleeease! Just one more?”

“Yeah, pleeease?” 

Zach rolled his eyes at both of them. “One more, then bed time.”

“Okay, go little man.”

“Knock, knock.”

Gabe pitched his voice low. “Who's there?”

Cody snickered and could barely get it out. “A cow goes.”

“A cow goes who?”

“No silly, a cow goes moooooooooooooo!” He was rolling by then and so was Gabe.

They both kept laughing even as Shaun picked up Cody, tossing him over his shoulder and marching with him to the bedroom, bouncing him on shoulder and making him laugh even harder.

He didn’t come back to the living room and had the ‘writing’ sign on their bedroom door, though Zach figured he was more trying to stay out of ‘bro day’ than actually get some work done.

 

“Okay, I’m gonna be a grown up for about five minutes here.” Gabe took a hit and passed it to Zach, flopping his head back against the sofa pillow. “One. You remember when we first met, right?”

“Yeah.” Two weeks into his first semester at Rolling Hills and he was fucking miserable. The first day there, he’d been so proud and then some kid made fun of the shoes his mom had worked double shifts to afford while everybody laughed. Zach had wanted to cry, he’d wanted to tell them to fuck off, he’d wanted to tell his mom that he wanted to go back to his old school but he didn’t do any of those things because he’d never seen his mom as happy as she was when he got that scholarship and he wasn’t going to lose it and he wasn’t going to give it up, not for anything.

“You were under the bleachers and you were drawing this awesome book monster eating Chauncey Kirkland’s head.”

Zach laughed. “Oh wow, yeah. I’d forgotten that.”

“Mom had just married Larry and Shaun had started college and you were the only person I’d seen that looked more miserable than me. You were smart and talented and like, so pissed you could set people’s head on fire with your glare.”

He never had known why Gabe came up to him that day but after that, the rest of them had begrudgingly accepted him. He’d made a few friends but none like Gabe. Still, it had made things easier for the rest of school.

“Remember what I said?”

That he did remember. “Dude, that’s really good! Like you should be in a museum or something.” He pitched his voice high, making Gabe giggle.

“Right, and I’m never wrong. You are gonna kick CalArts _ass_.” He jabbed a finger in Zach’s chest. “So just remember who to thank first when you’re being interviewed about your success someday. You may be Bert and Ernieing it up with my big brother but I found you first.”

Zach stared at him. “Bert and Ernie?” 

Gabe waved a hand. “Totally gay, Dude. Don’t distract me. Two. Cody is an awesome kid. He’s smart like you, right? And funny and sweet. And now he has you and Shaun to come home to so even if it’s not great right away, he’ll be fine.” He shook his head. “Man, I cried every day the whole first week. My mom would pick me up and we’d go get ice cream, and even after that week, when I got a crush on Liesel Hannigan and couldn’t wait to get to school, she’d still pick me up once a week for ice cream.”

He held up his hand shooting one, two, and then a third finger in the air. “Okay and three. Shaun is a great guy, and I’m not saying that because he’s my brother. Or, well I am, but only because that’s how I know it’s true. After our dad died, Shaun stepped up, you know? And I think the reason he never really liked Larry is because when Mom married him, Shaun didn’t have to take care of us anymore. When he loves something, he doesn’t stop taking care of it, not unless he’s forced to.”

He took a last hit, swearing and dropping the doobie as he burned his fingers on the stub. “So, in conclusion, you guys are the gay Brady Bunch or whatever and you need to mellow out.”

 

Shaun rolled over when he slid into the bed, pulling him close. “Figure you two would be up all night.”

“Nah, Gabe passed out right before Helm’s Deep.”

Shaun snorted. “The Ents do it to him every time.”

Zach rested his head on Shaun’s chest and closed his eyes. “I glad I’m here.” He echoed Shaun’s words to him the day it had all fallen apart. He felt fingers card through his hair as he drifted off. 

“Me too.” 

 

**(year 4):**

“Cody, I said put the game up and clean up your room. If I say it again, you lose privileges for a week.” Zach couldn’t believe how much like his mother he sounded sometimes. He could only hope she was somewhere laughing at his payback.

Shaun looked up from his keyboard. “Hey Cod, you better get it done before four when Tori gets here. She not gonna want a messy boyfriend.” Cody’s crush on Tori was as amusing for Shaun as it was embarrassing for Zach and Cody.

Cody threw the controller down and reluctantly slid off the couch, glaring at Shaun along the way. “S’not funny, Shaun.” Bailey jumped down and followed behind him, tail wagging.

“Yeah, _Shaun_ how dare you laugh at true love?” Zach stuck his tongue out in Shaun’s direction, glad he’d lost top spot as the bad guy who was ruining Cody’s vacation by making him work, at least for the time being. Shaun was only ‘Shaun’ these days when he made Cody was mad at him. He’d been Daddo for years, otherwise.

 

Cody had come home from the first day in first grade and told them all about his new best friend, Leo. Mostly though, “he’s got two dads! Can you and Shaun be my dads?”

Zach didn’t look at Shaun. He knew this was his battle. Shaun had made his feelings clear from the beginning and even Larry and Helen had been on the bandwagon. Larry had said making things legal would be better for them in regards to taxes and insurance, had even offered to pay all the legal fees and when Shaun said yes for once, Zach knew just how seriously he wanted it. But Zach couldn’t cut the last threads of hope that Jeanne would come back and be Cody’s mom. God knows it wasn’t because he didn’t love Cody, but he loved his sister too and he didn’t want them to lose something they couldn’t get back.

“Cody, you know Jeanne is your mom.”

Cody shrugged, head down. “Yeah but Leo has a mom too, and she had to go away, so his dads ‘dopted him so he can stay forever and ever.”

Shaun knelt down in front of Cody tilting his chin up and looking him in the eye. “Hey, Cods, you know we love you and can stay with us forever and ever no matter what, right? I promised, remember?”

Cody nodded but he didn’t look any happier, even when Shaun pulled him in for a hug and Zach realized that if it came down to breaking Jeanne’s heart or Cody and Shaun’s, Cody and Shaun were going to win.

 

Shaun came over and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him in for a kiss. “Are you kidding me, Babe? I’m a big fan of true love.”

He leaned back in Shaun’s arms. “Do you think we should tell him about Gabe and Tori?”

Shaun shrugged. “Nah, they barely know it themselves.” He grinned. “Besides, if Cody gets his shit together before Gabe does, who knows what might happen.”

There was crash from Cody’s room and the shout of ‘nuthin!’ came before they could even ask what happened. Zach sighed and shook his head. “Wait, tell me why we’re talking about doing this again, again?”

Shaun tightened his arms. “Family fucking gene, remember? Also people are starting to look at us funny when Cody calls Bailey his brother.”

 

Tori’s plane was actually on time so they didn’t have long to wait at the airport. Cody had made her a welcome sign that he’d borrowed Zach’s supplies for and had refused any help. It had copious amounts of glitter and a few suspicious paw prints, and got him hugged and kissed until his face was pink and Shaun and Zach were smothering their laughter behind loud coughing.

Tori stood up, pulling first Shaun and then Zach into their own hugs before they went to grab her bag. Cody insisted on helping, so Tori gave him her carry-on, and another smacking kiss.

“How’s Vegas?”

She shrugged. “I miss the ocean. Plus I’m getting too old to be waitressing.”

Zach tugged one of the short waves that framed her face. “Oh yeah, you’re a real hag.”

Tori punched him in the shoulder. “We can’t all make ourselves look younger by dating an old guy.”

Shaun leaned in, bumping her as they walked. “Hey! How did I get in this?”

She slipped her arm through his and leaned into him with a grin. “It’s the company you keep.”

“Seriously though, you should move to LA. You can do the same thing and you’d be a lot closer to your Grandma.” It was the same line Zach had been pushing every time he saw her, but it seemed like it had more traction these days. He figured the fact that Gabe was back in San Pedro now didn’t hurt.

Shaun nodded. “The spare room has your name on it for as long as you need it.”

Tori narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you sure you guys aren’t just angling for a live-in babysitter?”

Cody huffed indignantly. “I’m not a baby!” 

She slowed down, letting Shaun go and throwing an arm around his shoulder. “Nope, you’re a big guy. I was talking about your new little brother or sister. Are you excited?”

Zach and Shaun exchanged laughing glances as Cody’s face lit up. She was definitely going to be sorry she had asked.

 

**(decade 5):**

Zach was in his studio when the back door slammed and the shouting started. He only had a few minutes to put things away before a tiny body hurled itself through the door and toward him.

“Granza!”

He bent down at the right moment, catching Jane before impact, saving himself and his art supplies from a potential disaster. She was tiny but solid and he stifled a grunt as he lifted her into his arms, and then he was being covered with juicy kisses as she grabbed both of his cheeks in chubby hands.

“Janie! I told you to wait!” Zoe came running in after her, breathless, fawn cheeks flushed and brown curls windblown. She leaned in with a kiss. “Sorry, Granza.That little demon is fast!”

“She’s fine.” Jane giggled and pulled at his glasses. He switched her to one hip, grabbing her hands. “How’s my favorite girl?”

“Don’t let mom hear you say that.”

Zach grinned. “Ah, she knows she’s my favorite girl too.”

Janie pulled on his shirt. “Me too right, Granza?”

He kissed her on the forehead. “Yep.”

Zoe smiled, then shrugged. “Work sucks, school is hard, Payton is gone too much and his mother is spoiling the hell out of Janie when she keeps her. Mom was right, as usual. I was crazy to get married and have a baby at twenty and just because you and Daddo did it with Uncle Cody does not mean everybody should, even if you do have the family f’ing gene and blah, blah.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head as she recited the familiar complaints.

Zach rubbed a hand over her shoulder. He had agreed with Bri when Zoe had told them she was getting married but he and Shaun had also refused to get in the middle of the six month long argument between mother and daughter. Zoe was handling it though, was almost through the other side and the next challenge, even if at times it felt like what carried her along was half spite of her mother. He was proud of her, proud of all of them, kids and grandkids and he figured he’d be just as proud of the bundle of trouble in his arms someday even if just thinking he was a great granddad made his head spin. “Aw, just hang in there another year, kiddo.”

“Yeah, that’s what I keep telling myself. Where’s Daddo?”

“He, Duncan and Uncle Gabe took boards out.”

“Of course they did. They couldn’t wait for me?” She crossed her arms, in a full pout that reminded him she was still only twenty-two. 

“Go on, they’re at the point. They’ve only been out there an hour or so. Me and Janie can work on our art project, right honey?” Janie nodded, waving bye to her mother.

Zoe leaned in and gave him another kiss. “Happy Anniversary, Granza.”

They had built a life and a family long before the law had decided officially and finally that they could, so they didn’t count the day they got married as their true anniversary and though they celebrated it, it was usually something quiet with just the two of them. They saved the big stuff for the day Zach had asked and Shaun had said “of course, anything.” They even still had the damn walkie talkies. For their fifth, he’d had a friend of his that did woodwork make a storage box for them out of driftwood and Cody and Bri had helped decorate it. It had the place of honor in the family room no matter where they moved.

 

The house started filling up over the next few hours, friends and family tumbling in at will. The party was that night but they expected to have a full house the whole weekend. Officially, Gabe and Tori were hosting, which was fine with Zach and Shaun. It meant they could relax and mingle without having to make sure everybody was having a good time. It also meant they could sneak off, Zach into his studio for an impromptu painting party with the smaller kids, Shaun back down to the beach when Cody and Bri got there for some secret project they wouldn’t tell Zach about. And once, together, to make out a little bit on the deck, ignoring the catcalls when they came back in.

 

Zach might be younger but Shaun had always been the bigger ‘kid’. He was the fun grandpa, the one who knew whatever the latest ‘thing’ was and the one zooming around with the kids on hover bikes and having gaming marathons. Zach would just shake his head and go back to his studio, leaving them to it. He wasn’t surprised when Zoe’s shout of “show us your moves, Daddo!” resulted in an impromptu dance off between him, Jack, Zoe and Duncan. He did complain when he got dragged into it though. Fortunately the music slowed to something he wasn’t going to break a hip trying to dance to.

Zach laughed as Shaun dipped him, singing an slightly off key 'so, la,la,la,la,la' in his ear, then pulled him back up in swooping motion. Between the surfing and this, he knew Shaun was going to be hitting the Advil and heating pad tonight and he wasn’t going to lie, he was going to enjoy his ‘told you sos’. It didn’t stop him from snuggling in and laying his head on Shaun’s shoulder when he pulled him close. Even after all this time, Zach felt like this was the safest spot in the world.

Zach wasn’t the writer in the family but he knew it was a cliché, a terrible, sappy one, to say your life started when you met someone, or when you kissed them, and he’d known Shaun since he was 8 years old. So no, his life didn’t start when he met Shaun but that day in the kitchen of the beach house, watching Shaun and Cody singing silly songs and making pancakes, for the first time, his life stretched out before him, not unmoored but unfettered.

 

 

_Prologue_

 

**( pages, 6):**

It was right there in the first chapter. Zach stared at the words a long time, his stomach fluttering. He had planned on picking up a copy of Shaun’s book to read eventually, just cause he thought it would be rude not to, plus Gabe had said that it had pissed off a lot of Larry and his mom’s Pacific Bluff friends, so that was a bonus. Most of those people were stuck up asses. He didn’t get the chance though. His mom had it for him when he got back from school one day.

Susan, her hospice nurse had been gossiping about it, especially curious since she knew Zach went to school with ‘those people’.

“Do you want me to read it to you?”

She shook her head, eyes drifting closed. “Maybe later. You read it though, tell me the juicy details.” She opened her eyes suddenly, staring at him intently, then reached over and pushed the curls back off his forehead with a smile. “Shaun’s a good boy. I like him. Nothing wrong with stirring things up a little bit, Sweetie. Remember that.”

 

**(seconds, 7):**

The beer buzz made the whole thing feel like a dream. Shaun’s body was warm against his and he still smelled faintly of the ocean and beer, and when he leaned over, fingers tangling in Zach’s shirt, hand hot against his chest, Zach couldn’t move, didn’t want to. Shaun’s mouth against his was everything he’d never let himself think about and laying there under the stars, it felt as inevitable as the night.


End file.
